DVDizzy Forum

The Expendables - What a horrible, horrible movie. Yes, I "got it", and yes, I know all it was, was a shout out to those good ol' 80s action flicks, but seriously?? HORRIBLE! The only scene with a redeeming quality was with Arny in his little pointless cameo.

Dial M For Murder - Okay, but definitely not one of Hitchcock's best films. The plot is interesting, but there are times when it just drags on.

3.5/5

Psycho II - Though nowhere near as good as the original 1960 classic, this sequel had a pretty decent plot (that is, until it gets ruined with the ending)

3/5

PixarFan2006 wrote:Psycho II - Though nowhere near as good as the original 1960 classic, this sequel had a pretty decent plot (that is, until it gets ruined with the ending)

3/5

I'm sorry, but some of us think that tea scene is pretty epic.

A good hook for Part III, as well.

The Other Guys.

Enjoyable and funny enough. I liked it, but it suffers from flaws like example, it suffers for being a generic buddy cop movie in some parts, but it was still a decent cop comedy film. Better than *cough* Cop Out.

The Lord of the Rings - No, I am not referring to the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. This is the "animated" film by Ralph Bakshi. This film was a steaming pile of horse crap. But at the same time, it was so terribly awful that it was hilarious. Some parts were really, really boring. But some of it made me laugh until I couldn't laugh anymore. The animation is terrible, and a lot of the scenes were extremely cringeworthy. I especially thought the scenes where they couldn't even bother to make the rotoscoped characters look animated (so they just looked like bizarre live-action footage), like every scene involving orcs, were terrible, but hilarious. All of the characters were hideous and unpleasant, the Balrog was ludicrous, and on top of all that, who the hell is Aruman? WTF? This movie also had no point, since it didn't really have an ending. It just... stopped. And it was kind of a relief, because it sucked. Everyone dancing around at random times was fairly entertaining. Oh, and the chemistry between Sam and Frodo didn't even try to be subtle. And speaking of Sam... As cool as he was in the books, this film turned him into a hideous and rather stupid guy. WTF!? This movie was a complete waste of time, but it was worth a couple of laughs. This is a movie to watch when you are bored and sleep-deprived (or high, whatever), and you have nothing better to do. When that happens, it's hilarious. At any other time, it's just boring and painful to watch.

Disney-Fan wrote:The Expendables - What a horrible, horrible movie. Yes, I "got it", and yes, I know all it was, was a shout out to those good ol' 80s action flicks, but seriously?? HORRIBLE! The only scene with a redeeming quality was with Arny in his little pointless cameo.

What else did you expect?

Frozen land (2005)

Also known as Pahaa maa in its original Finnish. It's supposed to be a 'thriller', but I wasn't thrilled by it at all. I turned it off after an hour. I couldn't possibly care less what would happen next.

Kick-Ass (2010) 8/10 - while not as good as the first watch, I still thoroughly enjoy this movie. Love the characters, story, and action. I actually like Nicolas Cage here. Still has some pacing issues during the last half and is a little uneven tone wise. The jetpack still pisses me off as it just doesn't belong in a movie that, while very much over-the-top, was still grounded in reality. That sequence was the only one to make me suspend disbelief. I also don't like the ending where Hit-Girl beats up the bullies off camera and Red Mist reveals his new costume and then shoots at the screen. It just ends on clichés.

The Soloist- I had read all of the articles that this was based on, so it was neat seeing the movie. Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx were amazing in this. I definitely recommend this.

Goliath wrote:

Disney-Fan wrote:The Expendables - What a horrible, horrible movie. Yes, I "got it", and yes, I know all it was, was a shout out to those good ol' 80s action flicks, but seriously?? HORRIBLE! The only scene with a redeeming quality was with Arny in his little pointless cameo.

What else did you expect?

Silly of me, but I was expecting at least half an attempt at a story...

Goliath wrote:

littlefuzzy wrote:I've been watching the Police Academy films.

I'm sorry. My condolences.

That's about right, for Police Academy: Mission to Moscow... The others were good for what they are, and of course it helps that I grew up watching them. However, the last film was Home Alone 3 & 4 bad!

They filled it with goofy sound effects (and I don't mean from Michael Winslow), crazy actions, and just general stupidity.

And the film even had Christopher Lee and Ron Perlman in it!!

Claire Forlani was cute in it, but that's about the only good thing in the movie...

Bobby called to postpone our DirecTV for another 6 months (weep), and they gave it to us for an evening last night, so I watched the new DCOM Den Brother. I liked it. Not my favorite DCOM, but not my least favorite. Somewhere in the middle. And Hutch Dano is not bad to look at.

Frida - I love Frida Kahlo, I really do. I stumbled across her work while doing a project for an art class, and then ran into her again while doing a project for a Spanish class. I have done my research on her, and I find her life and her attitudes very interesting. Some things about her remind me of myself, actually. I think this movie captured Frida Kahlo, the woman and the artist, beautifully. The cinematography was interesting, and the way her inspiration for some of her most famous paintings was represented was beautiful. A very good film.

Margos wrote:Frida - I love Frida Kahlo, I really do. I stumbled across her work while doing a project for an art class, and then ran into her again while doing a project for a Spanish class.

I know you didn't intend it, but it sounds like you know her personally!

Anyways, I recorded several of the movies from the Gene Tierney marathon on TCM yesterday (namely the ones not on DVD: Plymouth Adventure, Personal Affair, Never Let Me Go, China Girl, The Mating Season, and Close to My Heart) and hopefully will have a chance to watch them later this week. And even though I have it on DVD, I was watching That Wonderful Urge on TCM. Always a delight.

albert

Escapay wrote:

Margos wrote:Frida - I love Frida Kahlo, I really do. I stumbled across her work while doing a project for an art class, and then ran into her again while doing a project for a Spanish class.

I know you didn't intend it, but it sounds like you know her personally!

Yeah, I didn't really notice that, LOL. I just meant her name and her art, etc. But it would have been pretty cool to know her personally!

Lost Horizon (1937)

The best Capra-film I've seen yet. I thought his other films were often too over-dramatic and far too sentimental (most notably Mr Deeds goes to town and It's a beautiful life). That's not to say that this film doesn't have its fair share of idealism and romanticizing, but it's done in moderation and it's mixed up with an intruiging plot and enough excitement to make it very enjoyable.

It tells the story of British foreign minister Robert Conway, who, together with his brother George and three others, get 'abducted' to the mythical utopia Shangri-La. This land of milk and honey is described by its leader Chang in terms of a communist paradise (of course it's never named as such, but it's clear from Chang's description that's what Capra meant, affirming his leftist sympathies). Over time, everybody learns to appreciate life in Shangri-La, except for brother George, who tries to persuade Robert to back to 'civilization'.

The film is filled with mystery and suspense and it keeps the audience going back and forth between Robert's idealism and George's belief that the people in Shangri-La got brainwashed (a -justified- criticism of communism states). Also, it featured excellent actors of which I had not heard yet, but who seem awfully familiar, especially Ronald Colman and Edward Everett Horton.

Edit: IMDb says I've watched the 'general release version', which is 118 minutes long, but that Capra made a version of 132 minutes. I don't know how this film could improve even more...

Nightwatch (1994)

Also known as Nattevagten in its original Danish. A very morbid thriller, which takes place for a large part in a morgue, where the main character Martin, a student, has a job on the side. After a while, a serial killer who targets prostitutes, tries to frame Martin. Just at the same time when his best friend has introduced him to a hooker who happens to be friends with one of the murdered prostitutes...

All the way through the film, I thought I had figured out the murderer, then I started to doubt and suspect someone else, and then it turned out to be somebody else entirely! This film kept me on the edge of my seat until the end, and I expected a very different ending (though I would have preferred my version because it's darker)..

Edited for typo's.

Goliath wrote:Lost Horizon (1937)

Edit: IMDb says I've watched the 'general release version', which is 118 minutes long, but that Capra made a version of 132 minutes. I don't know how this film could improve even more...

The film had a very troubled release history over the years (Columbia kept a-choppin' at the film in subsequent theatrical releases) and the longest existing cut is the 132-minute premiere version. Unfortunately, several minutes of video footage is missing (but the audio tracks exist) and are reconstructed via stills (similar to the 1983 reconstruction of A Star Is Born and the Doctor Who telesnap reconstructions of several 1st and 2nd Doctor episodes). The R1 DVD (from Columbia in 1999) is the 132-minute version (with the reconstructed scenes), though I'm not sure which versions are released to DVD overseas. There's an excellent commentary on that, along with a few video features (a "photo documentary", restoration demo, and additional deleted scenes). It was one of Columbia's earliest DVDs in their "Columbia Classics" line, but sadly many other entries in the line didn't get as great a treatment.

albert

Yeah, I saw the version with the stills. I hope they one day find the missing footage (like with Metropolis).

Goliath wrote:Also, it featured excellent actors of which I had not heard yet, but who seem awfully familiar, especially Ronald Colman and Edward Everett Horton.

I mainly remember Ronald Colman from this movie, A Tale of Two Cities and The Prisoner of Zenda. Random Harvest is supposed to be good but I've never seen it.

Edward Everett Horton, on the other hand, is a character actor (so he's probably played bit parts in a lot of movies you've seen). I mainly remember Horton being teamed up with Eric Blore in some Astaire/Rogers musicals (The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Shall We Dance), lending to some of the more comedic moments. He was also in the screwball comedy, Holiday. He re-teamed with Capra for Arsenic and Old Lace and his inferior remake of Lady for a Day; Pocketful of Miracles.

Just watched Titanic: it was ok, and it was my first time, when elder rose drop the neckless I expected to jump of to, but who cares the ending alright

jpanimation wrote:

Goliath wrote:Also, it featured excellent actors of which I had not heard yet, but who seem awfully familiar, especially Ronald Colman and Edward Everett Horton.

I mainly remember Ronald Colman from this movie, A Tale of Two Cities and The Prisoner of Zenda. Random Harvest is supposed to be good but I've never seen it.

Random Harvest is my favorite Ronald Colman film (and also my favorite Greer Garson film). It's a fantastic blend of a post-war drama and a love story, in addition to being an excellent adaptation of James Hilton's novel (which I had to get via interlibrary loan as it's been out of print for some years ). The chemistry between Garson and Colman is electrifying, and it's one of the few movies that I can watch repeatedly (as in watch it once, not be satisfied that I finished it, so I'll watch it again).

albert

jpanimation wrote:Kick-Ass (2010) 8/10 - while not as good as the first watch, I still thoroughly enjoy this movie. Love the characters, story, and action. I actually like Nicolas Cage here. Still has some pacing issues during the last half and is a little uneven tone wise. The jetpack still pisses me off as it just doesn't belong in a movie that, while very much over-the-top, was still grounded in reality. That sequence was the only one to make me suspend disbelief. I also don't like the ending where Hit-Girl beats up the bullies off camera and Red Mist reveals his new costume and then shoots at the screen. It just ends on clichés.

y'know, you can actually buy *them* in reality. And it never really occured to me how chliche the end was. A good movie is rarely about the ending.